Symposium Gathers Lutheran Scientists and Pastors

Sponsored by the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (ELCA) Alliance for Faith, Science and Technology, a major symposium titled “Sunday Scientists!” was recently held. Around 45 ELCA scientists and pastors, coming from a number of states have participated in the event.

Dr. Kevin Powell, a member of the Church’s Alliance for Faith, Science and Technology, and symposium organiser and pediatrician at the University of Illinois explained the two-fold aims of the symposium.

One of the aims was obviously to improve how Lutheran congregations relate to science and the other one would be on a more personal level, said Dr. Powell.

The symposium is thought to be a response to all the ethical issues aroused in recent years due to the advancement of medical research and technologies, such as stem cell research, abortion, and cloning. Dr. Powell said that inside many Christian scientists, there’s been a conflict between science and religion, and they are people who really want to integrate the two.

The symposium was to give Christian scientists cognitive tools, emotional support and some affirmation from the institutional Church that what they are doing is in fact God’s calling, Dr. Powell continued.

Certain controversial theological issues have also been discussed among the science and medical experts. Rev. George L. Murphy and Rev. Antje Jackelén, for example, had handled the topic of evolution and creation. They showed how creation and evolution could co-exist in the faith life of a Lutheran scientist.

Rev Murphy is an ELCA pastor and trained physicist, and pastoral associate at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Ohio while Rev Jackelén is an associate professor of systematic theology, religion and science, and director, Zygon Centre for Religion and Science, Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago.

Other presentation topics included a history of the interaction between science and religion, neuroscience and theology, and genetically modified organisms. Small group discussions dealt with the minimum scientific and theological understandings of the modern Christian needs, a Bible study of the book of Genesis, and the United Methodist Church's position on science and creation theology.

Even though the symposium has only involved a very small and specific group of members in the Lutheran church, the insights that these Christian leaders have developed will be beneficial to the whole Church.

“Our aim is to make congregations friendlier to science so they can understand the world they are living in, which is so profoundly influenced by science,” Dr. Powell said. “People in the congregations, especially the non-scientists, recognise how much their lives are affected by science, but they can be very frustrated trying to figure out how to impact that change,” he said.

“This was a great opportunity for people to come together to think about what it means to be a scientist and a Christian and how to live this out in their daily lives,” said Gail Bucher, retired pharmacologist and chairman, ELCA Alliance for Faith, Science and Technology, Belmont, Mass. “It met all of our expectations and probably exceeded them,” she said.